Beyond Broken (The Bay Boys #3) (35 page)

Caleb couldn’t take her silence any longer as she roamed from empty room to empty room.

“Well?” he asked, his voice unexpectedly harsh and loud.
 
He softened his tone.
 
“Say something.”

She looked so beautiful, standing in her printed cotton dress and tights, that it made his chest physically ache.

And she’s carrying your child
, he thought, that same foreign feeling washing over him once again.

“It’s wonderful, Caleb.
 
Really.
 
I just…” she trailed off, looking around.

Her expression made him frown.
 
“You don’t like it.”

“It’s not that,” she told him, turning to face him completely.
 
Her cheeks were tinged pink, a sign of her embarrassment.
 
“I’m just worried that I…I won’t be able to afford the payments.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, brows furrowing, completely flabbergasted.

She shrugged, her soft brown eyes connecting with his.
 
“It’s a lovely house.
 
A
new
house, in an upscale neighborhood.
 
We’ve never discussed money before, but it seems inevitable now.”

Dawning realization and then offended disbelief made him stare at her for a good thirty seconds before he asked slowly, “You think that I’ll ask you to
make payments
?”

“Well, I—”

“You think that I expect you, the woman carrying my child, to pay me?”

“I wouldn’t be comfortable living here for free, Caleb.”

“You were going to do it with your mother eventually,” he pointed out, glaring.

“She’s my
mother
,” she said.
 
“My
family
.
 
It’s different.”

Her insinuation stung, especially after what he’d told her the morning after he’d found out she was pregnant.
 
“And our child will be
my
family, even if you don’t consider yourself a part of it,” he’d all but growled.

“Caleb,” she murmured, gliding closer to him.
 
“That’s not what I meant.”

“You want to talk about money?” he asked, staring down at her, still feeling the pulses of his temper and hurt.
 
“My uncle’s business was and
is
very lucrative.
 
You should know that.
 
You’ve seen the numbers.
 
I’ve been working for him since I was sixteen and you know what I did with that money?
 
I saved it.
 
And then I invested it when I turned twenty-two.
 
My uncle left me money and his business and his house, which is in the process of being sold as we speak.
 
You know what that all means?” he asked.
 
“It means that I’ve already
paid
for this house.
 
In full.”

Her mouth parted.
 
“What?”

“So you can keep your
payments
.
 
They’re unnecessary.
 
But even if I hadn’t already paid for this house, I wouldn’t accept your money and you should know that,” he grated.
 
He was still pissed that she’d imply he wouldn’t take care of her financially.
 
“We’ll have a joint account and you’ll use that.
 
Once it’s set up, we’ll pay off your student loans so we’re debt-free and then I don’t want to talk about this again.”

Her mouth was opening and closing like a fish and she couldn’t seem to get any words out.
 
She finally sputtered, “N-no, Caleb.
 
This crosses so many boundaries.”

He gave her a look that said
try me.
 
“If you want to keep your personal account, that’s fine.
 
But I expect you to use the joint one liberally, especially for the baby.”

Maddie crossed her arms over her chest, which he couldn’t help but notice pushed up her breasts.
 
She seemed to realize that she’d get nowhere with him.
 
When he was in this kind of mood, he could be the most stubborn son-of-a-bitch and he knew it.
 
He got what he wanted and he was used to it.

“We’ll talk about this later,” she finally said, in a tone that said
over my dead body
, and then she turned to inspect the rest of the house.

*
   
*
   
*

“So, let me get this straight,” Kyra said slowly, munching on the sandwich she’d bought for lunch.
 
They were at their favorite spot near the pier.
 
Maddie had just finished a morning library session and she planned to take the rest of the afternoon off to finish packing up her apartment.
 
“You’re mad at him because he wants to pay off your student loans
and
because he bought you a house and wants to pay for everything?
 
Am I missing something?”

“Well, when you put it like that, of course it sounds like I’m the crazy one,” Maddie grumbled, irritably.
 
“It was the way he said it!
 
He is so high-handed and arrogant.”

“But you knew that about him already,” Kyra pointed out.
 
“If you ask me, it’s kinda hot.
 
Those guys are always the best in the sack if you know what I mean.”

“Ugh, you are no help at all,” Maddie muttered.

Kyra laughed, nudging her shoulder.
 
“Okay, but in all seriousness, I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

“He’s not only asking me to move in with him and try and make this relationship work, but he’s asking me to give up my independence too,” Maddie said slowly.
 
“I’m not comfortable with that.
 
I don’t want to be completely dependent on him if things go south.”

“Sounds to me like you’re expecting them to,” Kyra noted.

Maddie sighed.
 
Was she?
 
“It’s hard not to think that given what’s happened between us.
 
I’m not holding my breath.
 
Caleb’s no good at the relationship thing.
 
He’s told me himself.
 
And me?
 
I’ve never been
in
a relationship, not to mention the fact that I’m pregnant with his child.
 
I don’t see how this will ever work out, no matter how much I might want it to.”

“If you’re not positive when things are tough, then of course it never will.
 
Don’t set yourself up for failure, Maddie,” Kyra told her.
 
“Just take it slow, like you plan on doing.
 
It’s not going to be all roses and rainbows in the beginning.
 
But let him make it easier on you.
 
If he wants to pay for things, let him.
 
Guys are weird about money, and in all honesty, money is going to be the least of your problems anyway.”

Maddie blew out a breath.
 
Kyra was right.
 
Money was just a small needle in a haystack of many.
 
“Fine, but I’m not using the joint account.”

“How long do you think you’ll be able to get away with that?” Kyra asked, giving her signature smirk.
 
Then, since her best friend knew her so well, she changed the subject.
 
At least slightly.
 
“How did your family react when you told them you were moving in with your baby daddy?”

Maddie looked down at her half-finished sub.
 
“My mom’s concerned, naturally, but I told her that I think it’s for the best, trying to make this work, so she’s okay with it.”

“And your brother?”

“He’s…” She sighed.
 
“He’s not happy about it at all.”
 
He’d gone red in the face when she told him and then yelled at her for about fifteen minutes straight, hardly pausing for breath, telling her all the reasons why he thought it was a
terrible
idea.
 
Needless to say, he wasn’t Caleb’s biggest fan, regardless of the fact that they’d been friends all those long years ago.

“He’s always been over-protective,” Kyra said.
 
“He had to be when your father died.
 
He’ll come around eventually.”

“I hope so,” Maddie murmured.
 
“Because Caleb is going to be in our lives now, for the rest of our lives, whether Thomas likes it or not.
 
It would sure make holidays easier if they got along,” she joked, trying to lighten the heavy mood.

“That’s the spirit,” Kyra replied, smiling, then she glanced at her watch.
 
“Shit, I need to get back to the office.”
 
Standing, she said, “But I’ll swing by after work to help you pack up the rest of your stuff.
 
Big day tomorrow!”

Moving day, she meant.
 
Tomorrow would mark the first day of her and Caleb—and Peter, of course—living together and she’d be lying if some part of her wasn’t completely and utterly terrified.

*
   
*
   
*

Caleb knew he was in for it when he spotted a black Mercedes pull into his lot and then watched as a familiar figure unfolded from the car.

He’d known that this confrontation was inevitable, so he wiped his hands off on a rag, tossed it onto the work bench, and approached the unmistakably furious form of Thomas Ashby.

“Thomas,” he greeted when they were only a few feet apart.
 
“I—”

Caleb expected the punch that exploded across his jawline.
 
He welcomed it even.
 
His face throbbed with pain as he massaged the tender spot before meeting the eyes of Maddie’s brother, someone he’d once considered a friend.

A quick glance over his shoulder revealed Brian and a couple other of his employees staring at the two of them.
 
Brian stood, tense, waiting.
 
They didn’t know that this was Maddie’s brother.
 
And only Brian and Peter knew that she was pregnant.

“I deserved that,” he mumbled at Thomas, looking back at the man in front of him.
 
Time had hardly changed the carefree boy he’d known a decade ago.
 
He’d always been the charming one, the life of the party out of their group of friends.

“You’re damn right you deserved that, you son-of-a-bitch,” Thomas snarled.
 
“If Maddie hadn’t stopped me when I found out, I would’ve delivered that hit a whole lot earlier.”

There would be a bruise tomorrow, but Caleb shook off the pain.
 
“You wanna hit me again?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Thomas said, narrowing his eyes.

“Do it,” Caleb said, voice quiet.
 
“I knocked up your sister.
 
That has to make you—”

He was cut off by another punch and Caleb gritted his teeth, but he did nothing to stop him.
 
He just took the hit.

“It makes me fucking furious,” Thomas hissed, clutching his right hand.
 
Caleb could see his red knuckles, but even though they had to be killing him, Caleb knew that Thomas could keep this up all day if he wanted to.
 
“She had everything going for her until you ruined everything!”

“You don’t think I know that?
 
You don’t think I know I fucked up her life?” he asked, staring Thomas right in the eye.
 
“I care about Maddie.
 
And I wish that things had turned out differently for her, but I can’t change what’s already happened.”

“You could let her go,” Thomas grated.

“I’ll never let her go.
 
Or our child,” Caleb said quietly, just as he spotted a familiar car pull into its parking space.
 
A second later, the woman of the hour raced out of her car.
 
And she looked pissed.

“I told you
not
to come here,” Maddie said to her brother, striding up to him and poking him in the chest.
 
“And I told you…” she trailed off when she caught sight of her brother’s knuckles and then she swung around to look at Caleb.
 
Whatever she saw made her cheeks flush in anger.
 
She whipped back around to her brother.
 
“You
hit
him?
 
What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What the hell is wrong with me?” her brother yelled down at her.
 
“Do you not see how fucked up this situation is?
 
Do you not know how fucked up
he
is?” he asked, stabbing a finger at Caleb.

Caleb’s lips pressed together, shame creeping over him.
 
His skin crawled.

Maddie went eerily silent and when she spoke, her voice was hardly more than a whisper.
 
“How dare you come here and do this.
 
You’re my
brother
.
 
I didn’t expect you to be happy about this, but you need to accept it.
 
I already have.
 
Caleb already has.”
 
She sucked in a breath, trying to calm down.
 
“I love you, Thomas.
 
But this is my life now.
 
And I really hope you’ll still want a place in it.”

Thomas stared down at her, but the rage still hadn’t left his eyes.
 
Caleb knew that feeling only too well.

“This is a mistake,” Thomas said, shaking his head.
 
“He’s bad news, Maddie.
 
He’s not right for you.
 
And he’ll bring you down with him.
 
That
I can promise you.”

With those parting words, Thomas stormed back to his car and peeled out of the lot, leaving Maddie, Caleb, and his employees staring after him.